PETA stripping outside Benetton to protest shearing

Chronicle Staff Report

Published 4:15 am, Friday, July 29, 2005

Photo: Liz Hafalia

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PROTEST30_132_LH.JPG Jodi Ruckley (ca, blue) from Australia, Njeri Sims (cq, green) from San Francisco, Eva Carpinelli (cq, orange) from Italy, and Kristina Hoerler (cq,purple) from San Francisco, are PETA protesters rallying outside Benetton at noon to protest the store's use of Australian wool. Australian farmers use a practice called museling, in which the animal is trussed upside down and, without painkillers, has chunks of its hind area sheared to prevent maggot infestation. Activists are on a world tour. Photographed by Liz Hafalia on 7/29/05 in San Francisco, CA less

PROTEST30_135_LH.JPG Jodi Ruckley (ca, blue) from Australia, Njeri Sims (cq, green) from San Francisco, Eva Carpinelli (cq, orange) from Italy, and Kristina Hoerler (cq,purple) from San Francisco, are PETA protesters rallying outside Benetton at noon to protest the store's use of Australian wool. Australian farmers use a practice called museling, in which the animal is trussed upside down and, without painkillers, has chunks of its hind area sheared to prevent maggot infestation. Activists are on a world tour. Photographed by Liz Hafalia on 7/29/05 in San Francisco, CA less

Naked protesters are rallied outside the Stockton Street Benetton store at noon today to protest the company's use of Australian wool.

The activists, from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, are on a world tour to decry Australian farmers' practice of mulesing, in which chunks of flesh are sheared from the hind area of unanesthetized sheep to prevent maggot infestation. Also at issue is the practice of exporting sheep by cramming so many animals into a vessel that thousands of them die, said campaign coordinator Matt Rice.

The protesters' bodies were painted in bright colors including orange, purple, green and orange, a play on Benetton's slogan of "united colors."

Calls to Benetton's New York headquarters were not returned, but according to a press release on the company's Web site, "Benetton Group does not adhere to the requests made by PETA to boycott Australian wool, and has always paid strong attention to the respect of ethical and social values in its manufacturing organisation, its retail network and in its communication campaigns, as has been repeatedly conveyed to PETA."

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